Minor League Game Summaries 8/23

The Baysox (70-61) offense had its most explosive night of the season as they recorded season-highs in hits (19) and runs in a 17-2 win over the Harrisburg Senators (55-75) Thursday night. With the win and a Richmond loss, the Baysox extend their Wild Card lead to four games.

“We swung the bat really well tonight,” said Manager Gary Kendall. “In Richmond we were putting good swings on the ball, but runs were hard to get. Here the ball was carrying out of the park. Usually you get 3, 4, 5 runs in an inning and then the pace of the game picks back up, but we just kept scoring.”

Baysox right fielder Ronnie Welty had his best game of the season, hitting two home runs and tripling on the way to an eight-RBI night. Welty tied a franchise record with eight-RBI in a game, accomplishing the feat for the fifth time in franchise history.

“It was definitely a career night for me,” Welty said. “The last few games had been rough so I had to take a long at what I was doing wrong and I saw I was starting my swing late and it was causing me to rush. I spent some time in the batting cage with [Hitting Coach Denny] Hocking and that really helped. I felt great tonight and was really relaxed and I saw the ball well.”

Bowie hitters combined for 11 runs in the fifth and sixth innings, sending 20 total batters to the plate and batting around the order in each inning. Seven Baysox players recorded multi-hit games and the team combined for six extra-base hits.

“Night like this are so much fun,” Welty said. “Everyone was hitting and after we got that run in the first inning everything really got going. We have really been gelling as a team.”

The Baysox struck first in the bottom of the first inning against Harrisburg starter Ryan Perry. Center fielder Antoan Richardson hit a lead off single to right field and moved to third base when shortstop Jonathan Schoop singled to left field. Richardson scored when left fielder Ty Kelly grounded into a double play to give the Baysox a 1-0 lead.

Harrisburg tied the game in the top of the second inning against Baysox starter Mike Wright. Jimmy Van Ostrand hit a lead off single to left field and made his way to third base after a pair of wild pitches before scoring on a single by James Skelton to tie the score 1-1.

Bowie took the lead back in the bottom of the third inning. Welty hit a lead off home run to left field to get the inning started. With one out, Richardson drew a walk and moved to third base after a stolen base and a throwing error on the catcher. With two outs, Kelly singled to second base to plate Richardson and designated hitter Robbie Widlansky followed with a single to left field that moved Kelly to second base. Second baseman Buck Britton hit the third consecutive single of the inning to plate Kelly and give the Baysox a 4-1 lead.

The Baysox offense exploded in the bottom of the fifth inning as they sent 10 batters to the plate. The first four batters of the inning reached, scoring two runs before Marcos Frias replaced Perry on the mound. With one out and the bases loaded, Welty hit a bases clearing triple to right field before scoring on a wild pitch for the sixth run of the inning to give the Baysox a 10-1 lead.

Bowie added to the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kelly hit a lead off triple to right field and scored when Widlansky singled to center field. With one out, first baseman Rhyne Hughes singled to left field and Rafael Martin then replaced Frias on the mound. With two outs and two runners on, Welty hit his second home run of the game to left-center field to give him 7-RBI on the game. Catcher Brian Ward then drew a walk and Richardson followed with a double to right field. Schoop then singled for the sixth hit of the inning to plate Ward and give the Baysox a 15-1 lead.

The Baysox extended the lead again in the bottom of the seventh inning. The first three batters of the innings reached and Wheeler and Welty hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to give the Baysox a 17-1 lead. The RBI was Welty’s eighth of the game.

Harrisburg got one run back in the top of the eighth inning against Baysox reliever Clay Schrader. Anthony Rendon hit a lead off double to right field and scored when Destin Hood singled to center field to make the score 17-2.

Wright pitched six innings and allowed one run on four hits while striking out seven batters and walking one in the win. Left-handed reliever Chris Petrini pitched a scoreless seventh inning and did not allow a hit while walking one batter. Schrader pitched one inning and allowed one run on two hits while striking out one batter and walking two. Baysox reliever Jason Gurka pitched a perfect ninth inning for the Baysox.

Perry took the loss for Harrisburg , pitching four innings and allowing eight runs on 10 hits while striking out one batter and walking three. (Matt Wilson)

Down by a run entering the bottom of the ninth inning and with the chance to jump into first place, the Keys set off a dramatic comeback, scoring twice to walk off with a 6-5 win and enter into first place in the Northern Division.

With the bases loaded and one out, Glynn Davis grounded to shortstop Orlando Calixte and in an attempt to get the force out at second, Calixte threw the ball into right field, allowing two runs to score, giving the Keys a walk-off 6-5 win which set off a frenzied celebration at home plate.

Now at 30-29 on the year, they leap over Wilmington for first place, who drop to 30-30 in the second half of the year.

Robinson Yambati, who entered the game with a 1.83 ERA, is charged with the blown save and loss after giving up three hits in the decisive ninth.

The comeback started with a Mike Flacco single into left field and the fielder, Geulin Beltre, bumbled the ball, allowing Flacco – who represented the tying run – to get into scoring position with no one out.

Recent call-up Torsten Boss was then asked to bunt Flacco to third base, but in doing so, he was able to bunt his way safely to first, putting two runners on board with still nobody out.

After Michael Mosby laid down a sacrifice bunt to put both Flacco and Boss into scoring position, Wilmington elected to intentionally walk Garabez Rosa to set up a force at every base and a potential game-ending double play. It did not work.

The next batter, Glynn Davis, hit a slow roller off of Yambati and that’s when Calixte misplayed the throw, sending the ball into the outfield and allowing the Keys to win and set off a raucous party at the plate.

There were four different lead changes in the game as two teams went back and forth the whole night trying to gain the upper hand.

After the Keys were trailing 4-3, Flacco put the Keys back on even ground in the sixth inning when he doubled with two outs to bring in a runner from first, which evened the score back up at four.

Yet Wilmington would take the lead right back as in their next at-bat in the top of the seventh, Luis Piterson hit a double down the line in right to score their fifth run of the game, putting the Blue Rocks on top 5-4.

However, that would only set up a wild and dramatic comeback for Frederick as they went on to steal a 6-5 win from Wilmington . (Derek LeComte)

The Hagerstown Suns (35-24) scored six runs in the first four innings and defeated the Delmarva Shorebirds (23-37) 8-5 on Thursday night at Municipal Stadium. The Suns scored four of their eight runs with two outs.

The Suns jumped to a 3-0 lead over the first three innings. In the second, Caleb Ramsey drove home Justin Miller. In the third, the Suns added two runs. Bryce Ortega doubled to open the inning. Billy Burns dropped a sacrifice bunt and Juan Guzman threw wide to third, allowing Ortega to score. After a balk advanced Burns to third, a wild pitch by Guzman gave the Suns a 3-0 cushion.

The Shorebirds got on the board in the fourth inning. Gregory Lorenzo opened the inning with a single. Then, Roderick Bernadina doubled down the left field line to score Lorenzo.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Suns strung together five straight hits and produced three runs to build a 6-1 lead.

The Shorebirds pulled within four runs in the sixth inning. Connor Narron drilled a line drive home run to right-center field, his tenth of the season and first since July 13.

The Suns countered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to stretch the lead to 8-2. Burns and Khayyan Norfork recorded two out hits to score the runs.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Shorebirds scored three runs to pull within three runs. Bernadina reached on a lead off walk. Narron then hit a chopper that was fielded in the hole by Justin Miller, who threw wide to second, allowing Bernadina to go to third. Then, Michael Ohlman doubled down the left field line to trim the gap to 8-4. Lucas Herbst hit a soft flare down the right field line to trim the deficit to 8-5.

Suns reliever L.J. Hollins entered with two outs in the eighth inning and got the final four outs of the game to earn the save. Hagerstown starter Taylor Jordan earned the win over five strong innings.

Shorebirds starter Juan Guzman was tagged with the loss. He allowed eight hits and six runs, four earned. Guzman struck out five and did not issue a walk.

Jesse Beal entered in the fifth inning and went three innings. He surrendered five hits and two runs.

he Aberdeen IronBirds (25-38) faced the Lowell Spinners (30-33) on Thursday, August 23 in the rubbermatch of the three-game series. The night began early in the first inning with both the Spinners and the Birds plating a pair of runs in the first inning. IronBirds broke the tie in the fifth but the Spinners rallied back in the sixth and seventh innings to take the win.

RHP David Richardson (3-3, 4.25) took the mound for the Birds on Thursday night while Zach Good (0-6, 6.44) took the mound for the Spinners. Richardson was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 17th round of the 2010 MLB Draft. Richardson struck out a career high nine batters on July 3 in Williamsport.

Spinners struck first early in the first inning when SS Mike Miller scored off of a triple hit by DH Devin Marrero. Spinners exited the inning with a 2-0 lead over the Birds.

CF Anthony Vega led off the first inning for the IronBirds. Sent to first on a walk by P Zach Good, Vega stole second off of a wild pitch and then advanced to third when 2B Creede Simpson popped out to centerfield. SS Joel Hutter grabbed an RBI single, his 25th RBI of the season, and sent Vega to home plate. A sacrifice fly by RF Manuel Hernandez allowed DH Sam Kimmel to score. IronBirds exited the first inning with the score at 2-2.

After two scoreless innings the IronBirds plated five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, 1B Cameron Edman smacked a single to center field and allowed Simpson and Kimmel to score. SS Joel Hutter scored off of a RF Manuel Hernandez fly ball single to left field.

The Spinners put three runs on the board in the fifth inning and added three more runs in the top of the seventh inning. CF Martty Johnson scored off of a passed ball by C Scott Kalush. 1B Jake Davies singled on a fly ball and brought home Miller and Marrero, taking back the lead at 8-7.

RHP Jadd Schmeltzer (2-3) took the win for the Spinners and RHP Jaime Esquivel (2-3) was assigned the loss for the IronBirds. RHP Gregory Larson grabbed the save for the Spinners. (Tim Murray)